In the Wake of War
by roses and hello
Summary: Oneshot het Luna, Neville, and Dean try to connect in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts.


Set directly after Harry leaves Luna in DH. Written for Lisa's birthday!

* * *

It is hard for Luna not to laugh as people crane their necks for a glimpse of a Blibbering Humdinger. It is, of course, _entirely_ the wrong season for them, and Daddy says they live mostly underground anyway.

But, she reflects, looking at the place where Harry has just been sitting, it is nice that people can still find it in them to believe, even in impossible things. Daddy would probably caution her not to be so close-minded, and accept the possibility that there could easily be other breeds of Humdingers that are as yet undiscovered.

She lets out a sigh, biting her lip. It is nice to be back at Hogwarts (and even nice for Hogwarts to be back to Hogwarts), but she wishes Daddy could be here too. Hopefully he has managed to discover the contraption that enables the Ministry to steal people's lovely thoughts and fashion them into Galleons.

"Hey, Luna," Dean says, coming to sit in Harry's place. She hopes Harry has gone off, and is not now sitting with Dean in his lap. She can't imagine that would be very comfortable. "Are you all right?"

She smiles at him, deciding that people sitting in Harry's lap are probably Harry's business. "Yes. I did expect something more to happen when You-Know-Who fell, though. That was a bit surprising."

"Yeah, I kind of expected the world to stop or something."

"Not the _world_, Dean," she says patiently. He does say very strange things sometimes. "I thought that Wharsnatters would come out of his mouth or something. I suppose he wasn't possessed by them after all."

Dean sounds like he's choking, but when she looks up at him, all he's doing is smiling. It vanishes quickly as he meets her eyes, and he squeezes her hand, his fingers lingering on hers. "I saw you fighting Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Oh yes," she says vaguely, thinking back to that moment and shivering. "That was for Neville, really."

Dean falters. "Oh. I was really scared for you."

Luna smiles, thinking that she should probably make space for a picture of Dean on her ceiling. It occurs to her that most of her friends are Gryffindors, but she thinks Rowena Ravenclaw probably wouldn't mind, having been friends with Godric himself. "Ginny's mum was _wonderful_."

"Frightening," Dean corrects, with a half-laugh. "No wonder the Weasley twins got away with so much here if that's what they were up against at home." He pauses, and a look of admiration comes over his face. She guesses he's about to talk about Harry, and wonders if she should warn Ginny that Dean's in love with Harry too. "Did you see it when Harry whipped that Cloak off? I couldn't believe my eyes."

That's Dean's problem, really, Luna thinks sympathetically. There are a lot of things he can't believe, even if he does have these wild ideas about a game with balled-up feet.

A throat is cleared somewhere above her head, and she sees Dean look guilty. Maybe Harry has decided to make his presence known at last?

But no, when she turns, she sees Neville. He stands there looking perfectly calm, holding Gryffindor's sword in his hand.

"All right, Neville?" Dean enquires, a hint of anxiety in his voice. Poor boy. She doesn't blame him. She'd be quite anxious if she found out she was crushing the Chosen One.

"Yeah, thanks, Dean. You?"

"Same. Er - I'll just be off. Got to go and find Seamus. Bye, Luna."

Luna frowns at the spot where Dean had been. Neville makes to sit down, but he is rather heavier than Dean, and she isn't sure Harry will appreciate it. "Do you want to go for a walk?" she asks quickly.

"Okay," Neville agrees, and she notices he takes the sword with him as they exit the Great Hall. It's probably a wise move, just in case there really are other breeds of Humdingers that aren't so friendly, but she isn't sure that he shares her reasoning.

"You were really brave," she says, as they wander into the Entrance Courtyard.

He is quiet for a moment, and then he sits down on a bench, examining the sword. "Not really. I just killed a snake."

"You stood up to _him_," she corrects, lifting the sword out of his grasp. She finds it heavier than expected, and needs both hands to take it. "When it looked like everything was lost."

"People needed hope," Neville answers, though his voice is slightly hoarse by this time. He grins. "And I really didn't want to get put in Slytherin."

She laughs appreciatively, running her hands over the rubies. He'd have been hard pushed to find a more ringing endorsement of his place in Gryffindor than this sword. "No. You're not a Slytherin. But they're not _bad_."

"Hagrid says that all the bad wizards come from Slytherin."

She snorts. Even though she likes Hagrid very much, they disagree on a lot of things. "Hagrid is wrong. Grindewald wasn't in Slytherin. And Cornelius Fudge is a very bad man, and he certainly wasn't in Slytherin."

Neville raises an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong with Fudge? Apart from that campaign he launched against Harry."

"Well, that, and all those goblins he's enslaved," Luna says seriously, but Neville's mouth twitches, and she thinks it's probably best to leave this topic of discussion. She seats herself next to him, leaning her back against the stone wall. "Were the Carrows worse after I left?" As soon as the words leave her mouth, she's sorry she spoke them. It's obvious that they were from the scars on his face, and she doesn't really need his nod of confirmation.

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't stop them taking you."

"Don't be," she says with a shrug. "I'm fine now. I'm glad that we were able to come here for the battle, I don't think we would have been if we'd still been in the Malfoy Manor."

"_We_?" he asks, as delicately as Neville Longbottom can.

"Oh, Dean too," she clarifies, watching as his eyebrows draw together. The thought that Neville might be jealous enters her mind for the first time, and she can't stop a smile creeping at the edges of her mouth. "He's been great company."

"Really."

Luna bites her lip to stop the smile emerging fully. She decides she can't keep teasing him any longer; it isn't fair. "He's in love with Harry, though."

He splutters. "_Dean_? Did he tell you?"

"No, but I can tell," she reassures him. It seems to do the trick; he is nearly laughing now. Boys are strange creatures, really.

Neville is no exception. She thinks he might want to kiss her, but instead he is fiddling with his robes and looking past her to the wall. She figures she might as well ask, because she is getting horribly tired, and if he's just out here to be awkward, then she'd rather be in her bed.

"Did you want to kiss me?"

He's flustered, and manages a couple of "umms" and "errs", which aren't very romantic.

"Yes," he mumbles eventually.

Luna considers for a second. Really, she shouldn't have to go to this much trouble. He should be grabbing her in a fit of passion, but maybe Neville Longbottom isn't capable of fits of passion. She tilts her head on one side, examining the reddening young man in front of her.

Carefully, she leans forward and presses a kiss to his lips. It is awkward and dry, and suspended somehow, but with Gryffindor's sword in her lap, her movement is hampered.

It seems to reawaken Neville's courage. He sets the sword down on the ground, and pulls her closer to him.

This time, he is the one to initiate the kiss, cupping her face in one of his hands.

Luna starts to feel less bad for divulging Dean's secret crush on Harry.


End file.
